Millard Fillmore was a forgettable President who had no use for
causes. After all, his big claim to fame was the Compromise of
1850, which resolved nothing and merely postponed the Civil War.
However, one cause he embraced with his whole heart was the
importation of Peruvian guano. Guano – or bird droppings
– even made it to his State of the Union speech. Fillmore,
who clearly lacked the eloquence of Jefferson or Lincoln,
proclaimed that “Guano has become so desirable an article to
the agricultural interest of the United States that it is the duty
of the Government to employ all the means properly in its power for
the purpose of causing that article to be imported into the country
at a reasonable price.” Makes you misty-eyed, doesn't it?